Life-saving suit



April 2, 1940. J. C: MYERS 2,195,736

LIFE-SAVING sum I Filed Oct. 22, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 g], wantontfiir'emial C. W enr,

April 2, 1940. J. c. MYERS 2,195,736,

LIFE-SAVING SUIT Filed Oct. 22, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jeremia 61 JakeMum J. C. MYERS LIFE-SAVING SUIT Filed Oct. 22. 1938 April 2, 1940.

3 Sheets-Sheet I:

Mama 5 Patented Apr. 2, 1940 UNITED STATES I PATENT OFFICE Claims.

This invention relates to life saving suits, and

it has for its object to provide an improved de-,

vice of this character, constructed in such manner 'as to envelop theentire person of the user, except dfor the head, and to support the userin the water, said suit being made of rubber or like waterproof materialadapted to keep the water out of'contact with the user for protectionagainst cold. Means are also provided for excluding water about thelqlneck, the only open portion, so that no water may enter. the suit.

I am aware of the fact that it has heretofore been proposed to providelife saving suits of the general character of that so far described.How- '1'Vel', as this description proceeds it will be seen that. thesuitof the present invention provides novel features of construction byvirtue of which the suit is more easily donned, may bemade'to conformmore closely to the figure of the wearer,

gou and will be held more securely upon the person of the wearer, sothat ii a small person should have to don a large suit, there will notbe the tendency for the whole suit to float upwardly over thehead of thewearer such as would be the case ;,if the suit were to fit loosely allaround.

' In the accompanying drawings, wherein like numerals designatecorresponding parts throughout the several figures:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a life saving 3o. .suit constructed inaccordance with the invention f and showing the same in closed position;

Fig. 2 is a rear view of the collar portion of the suit;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view through the collar on line 33 ofFig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view of the upper por- Fig, 7 is a verticalsectional view through the collar on line 'l-'! of Fig. 2.

, Referring to the drawings, 5 designates the body of the suit, which issplit vertically at 6 to provide the two lapel portions 1 and B. Straps9 are attached to the'lapel 8 and are provided with adjusting bucklesl0. These straps include 50 rings H at their ends, which are adapted toengage over hooks l2. After the rings have engaged over the hooks, thelapels may be drawn forcibly toward each other in a snug fit.

, By the use of adjusting straps at the point 55 indicated, a veryconsiderable constricting action may be imparted to the suit to bind itabout a small person wherethe suit is too large for the person who isusing it. I am aware of the fact that it is customary to provide thevertically split I portion at the front top of the suit in devices ofthis character, butheretofore these have been provided with ordinarysnap fastenings which provided no lateral adjustment or materialconstricting action of the suit at the point indicated.

Upon the contrary, only one adjustment was possible, and if the suitbeing worn did not happen to fit the person who got hold of it in theexcitement of a marine disaster, there was a tendency for the whole suitto' float upwardly, choking the wearer. In some instances, people havebeen seriously injured by jumping overboard from ships while wearingswimming appliances too loosely fitted and too large for them. Instanceshave been known where the breasts of women have been torn off by thetendency of 20 the cork life preserver, for example, to resist immersionwhile the body of the wearer tends to continue its downward movementthrough the life preserver.

To prevent the entry where the suit is vertically split, at 6, aninternal bib l3, of soft rubber, is cemented, as indicated by the dottedline M, to the inside of the suit 5. This bib tapers at the top, asindicated at 85, and is intended to be passed upwardly through the 80'collar and then downwardly and outwardly over the collar in a mannerhereinafter set forth.

The top edge of the bib is provided with a stiffening strip l6. This maybe a tube of stout and stiff rubber, or it may be a rod of the same, v

and it serves an important function, as will be presently described. Thecollar of the suitconsists of two main' plies ll and I8, which arecemented to the body 5 of the suit (see Fig. 7), and at the inner sideof the collar there is prc- 40 vided a soft rubber web 19, having itslower edge free and its upper edge cemented to the top of the collar. s1

The spacing'of the webs ii and it from each other provides a pocketthrough which tightening straps 20 are threaded. (See Fig. 2.) Thefunction of these straps is to provide means for pulling the collartight about the neck of the wearer to thus compress the soft rubber webl9 firmly enough about the neckof the wearer to exclude Water. The pliesI? and it are relatively stiff and yield the requisite strength requiredin an article of this sort, and yet by virtue of the straps 20,asdescribed, this collar may be caused to iuncof water at the plaoe 26tion as the constricting element by which the soft rubber web is causedto exercise its water-excluding function.

The front of the collar (see Fig. 3) is provided with a conventionalloop and swinging lever clasp consisting of the loop 2i and swinginglever 22 constituting a preliminary fastener. When donning the suit, thewearer grasps the stiffening strip i5 and pulls the top of the bibupwardly above the level of the collar with one hand and then snaps thepreliminary fastener 25, 22 together with the other hand. He then drawsupon the straps 23 in the collar to whatever extent may be necessary totighten the collar about the neck of the user. The adjusting buckles 23are fast to the outer ply of the collar, and so the straps may be heldin the position to which they are adjusted.

Heretofore, in devices of this character, it has been very difficult forthe person donning the suit to keep the top of the bib from slippingback down through the collar during the tightening of. the latter. Bythe provision of the stiffening rod or rib it upon the upper end of thebib, this difficulty is avoided, because after the preliminary clasp 2!,22 at the front of the collar has been connected to loosely secure thecollar, the rod cannot pass back through the collar while both hands ofthe user are left free to draw upon the straps 26.

After the collar has been suitably tightened, the top portion of the bibis folded outwardly and downwardly over the collar (see Figs. 2 and 6),and the ends ofv the flexible rod or strip 56 are beneath the shoulderportions of the garment. When the lapels are drawn toward each other bythe straps 2, the shoulder portions of the garment are caused to movetoward each other so that they bind firmly over the ends of the rod it,and the bib cannot thereafter by any means become dislodged, even in theroughest seas. The making of the rod !6 of a stiff rubber tube rendersthis element stiff enough to hold the end of the bib down, as described,by the engagement of said rod beneath the shoulder portions of thegarment, while at the same time, this element is not stiff enough to beobjectionably uncomfortable to the wearer.

Any desired means may be provided for rendering the suit buoyant. It iscommon to provide pockets filled with air or buoyant material such askapol; and the like. I have indicated such material at 24!, and theposition of these buoyant elements may be varied at will. A rubber tubeis provided at 25 and serves to let the air out of, the suit so that asnug fit may be had when the straps 9 are drawn upon.

The foot portion of the garment must, of necessity, be of pretty goodsize, because these suits are usually donned by wearers having theirshoes on. In order to make it possible for the wearer to get his shoeinto the leg portion of the garment and still have a reasonably snug fitafter he gets it there, straps 26 are provided across the instep andsecured at the heel so that a drawing action may be exerted upon theinstep.

To insure that the wearer will float upright in the water, weights illare provided in the heel portions of the garment, and by referring toFig. 5 it will be seen that these weights are of wedge shape; that is tosay, they are thicker at their rear ends than at their forward ends.Previously known devices of this character have been provided withweights extending all the way across the sole of. the foot, and this hasa tendency to pull the toes downward and to tip the wearer forward to anundesirable degree.

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the preciseconstruction set forth, but that it includes within its purview whateverchanges may fairly come within either the terms or the spirit of theappended claims.

Having described my invention, what I claim is:

l. A suit of the character described, formed of waterproof material andof dimensions adapted to completely embrace the entire person of theuser except the head, said suit being split at its upper front portionto provide lapels, fastenings for securing said lapel portions together,a collar open at the front, secured to the upper portion of the suit,two separate fastening means upon said collar, one of a non-drawingnature, constituting a preliminary fastener, and the other of a drawingnature adapted to constrict the collar when drawn upon, a bib-like webhaving water-tight connection at its lower and side portions with thebody of the suit, said web lying rearwardly of said split portion andexcluding water at that point, the upper end of the web being ofsufficient length to extend upwardly inside of the collar and to be thenfolded downwardly and outwardly over the outside of. said collar, alaterally extending flexible stiffening strip upon the extreme end ofthe bib of a length so that its ends may be tucked beneath the shoulderportions of the suit to prevent reverse movement of the web through thecollar.

2. A life saving suit of the character described, made of waterproofmaterial and shaped to envelop the entire person of the user except thehead, said suit being split at its upper front portion to provide thelapels as described, a soft rubber bib attached to the interior of thesuit rearwardly of said split portion and having water-tight engagementwith the suit at its bottom and sides, means for drawing the edges ofthe lapels forcibly toward each other to close the open front of thesuit and to constrict the upper portion of the suit and draw it togetherand draw the shoulder portions together, a collar upon the suit, meansfor constricting said collar, the upper end of said bib being free andof a length to extend upwardly inside of said collar, then downwardlyover the outside of said collar to a point below said collar, and aflexible stiffening rod upon the end of. said free portion of the bib,of a length to engage beneath the shoulder portions of the garment andto be held by said shoulder portions when said portions are drawntogether by the action of the drawing means of the lapels.

3. A structure as recited in claim 2 wherein the constricting means forthe collar comprises an initial clasping means at the end and asupplemental drawing means extending entirely around the collar.

4. A structure as recited in claim 2 wherein the collar constrictingmeans comprises an initial clasping means at the ends of the collar anda supplemental drawing means extending entirely around the collar,consisting of straps threaded through the collar.

5. A suit of the character described consisting of waterproof. materialand of dimensions adapted to completely embrace the person of the wearerexcept the head, a relatively stiff rubber collar, open at the frontonly, constituting an integral part of said suit, a web of softrubberthat is much thinner than the material of the collar, said softrubber web being united with the stiff collar along the upper inner edgeonly of the latter, leaving the remainder of said thin rubber Web-freeto yield in all directions and to seek a Waterproof seating around theneck of the wearer as the stiff collar is constricted about the wearersneck, and constricting means upon the exterior of the stiff rubbercollar.

JEREMIAH C. X MYERS.

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